Ghana has a plan to serve as a guide to help the nation attain some goals and objectives set strategically to achieve better learning outcomes for national development. It is called the Education Strategic Plan (ESP).
It is from this plan that GES draw its key objectives in order to to attain the goals and objectives of the nation when it comes to education in line with national development.
The key objectives are to:
a. provide life skills training and management of personal hygiene, family life, gender, health, HIV/AIDS/STIs, etc.
b. improve the Management of education service delivery
c. improve the quality of teaching and learning
d. increase inclusive and equitable access to and participation in education at all levels
To enable GES achieve these objectives, they perform some specific functions.
The FUNCTIONS OF GES are as follows:
a. they provide and oversee Basic Education (Pre-tertiary), Technical Education as well as Special Education
b. they promote the efficiency and full development of talents among its members
c. they carry out such other functions as are incidental to the attainment of the functions specified above
d. they maintain professional standards and the conduct of its personnel/staff
e. they recruit and post qualified teaching and non-teaching staff to institutions under their supervision
Whenever the government reviews an old policy or sets a new one in Ghana’s pre-tertiary education, it is GES that must ensure that the policy is properly implemented at all levels.
Other functions performed by the GES include:
- coordinate standards and direction for the effective and efficient implementation of approved national policies and programmes relating to basic and senior high education delivery
- monitor all funds allocated for the delivery of effective and efficient basic and senior high school education
- advise the Minister of Education on financial, human resource, policy issues, infrastructure, logistics and other relevant matters relating to education
- recommends programmes and policies for basic and senior high schools to the Minister of Education
- management of human resources at the KG, Primary, JHS and SHS
- coordinates district and regional sports and cultural activities in schools in collaboration with the appropriate authorities and institutions
- handles disciplinary matters relating to staff at all levels (Basic, SHS, Offices)
- carry out any other function that may come up in the course of performing its functions to attain the objectives set to be achieved by the the Education Service
Partners and Stakeholder of the GES
The GES works hand-in-hand with agencies, groups and institutions who have some kind of interest in the education of young learner in Ghana.
We can think of how each of the following stakeholders play their respective roles in partnering the Ghana Education Service to achieve its objectives.
- Employees of GES
- Unions
- Students
- Parents
- the General Public
Apart from these immediate stakeholders, GES also collaborates with some development partners and private sector groups in their effort to attain the set objectives.
They include:
- United Nations Children’s Fund (for Education Programme)
- United States Agency for International Development (for Partnerships for Education Project: Social Impact, Learning, Innovation, Improving Reading Performance in Primary Schools)
- United Kingdom for International Development (for Complementary Basic Education Programme)
- Belgium/TELEVIC (for Supply and Installation of Integrated E-learning Lab for 240 SHSs)
- Kreditanstalt Wiederaufbau (KfW) – ( for Supporting Vocational Training: Voucher Programme)
- World Bank – (for Ghana Secondary Education Improvement Project)
- Kuwait – (for Expansion and Development of 26 Existing SHS Project)
All these objectives and functions are drawn from set Vision and Mission statements as well as the mandate given it by the laws of Ghana.
Read the Mission and Vision Statements as well as the Mandate of the GES.
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